This invention relates to a method for automatically producing a standard pattern covesponding to different kind of objects, for an object recognizing system utilizing image processing, and particularly to pattern matching.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,394 1983 discloses a method of detecting the position of an object using the shape or the pattern existing on the surface thereof. This method is extensively used for assembling transistors, ICs, LCs, LSIs, etc. This method has two stages. The first stage has previously stored characteristic local patterns of an object and the second stage finds the position of the pattern from the supplied image of the object. In this method, the number of points constituting a standard pattern can be made a minimum, by using only a local pattern of an object as the standard pattern, so that a dedicated fast processing circuit of a practical scale may be constructed. However, an important problem is which one of the local patterns should be selected as a standard pattern to implement the method, and it must be decided whether or not a standard pattern is unique. In other words, the selected standard pattern should be such pattern that no similar patterns appear in the picture except for it.
The aforesaid selection relies on human intuition using an apparatus such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 144343/1975. However, because there is difficulty when there are many kinds of objects to be processed, which requires skilled labor, automated operation has been desired.